TV veteran Johnny Ball has made a rather bold accusation about his time on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, suggesting that professional dancer Aliona Vilani wasn’t being entirely genuine about the injury that saw her leave the competition after being partnered with him.
Johnny appeared on the 10th series of ‘Strictly’ back in 2012, where he was initially partnered with Aliona.
However, she was forced to withdraw from the competition due to injury, shortly after discovering who her celebrity partner would be.
Appearing on Thursday’s (5 October) instalment of ‘Good Morning Britain’, Johnny did little to hide his disdain for the professional dancer, actually growling when her name was mentioned and telling presenter Susanna Reid: “Aliona supposedly broke her leg. She did not at all.”
As Susanna attempted to interject, he continued: “That weekend she went to the South of France with her boyfriend.”
Following Aliona’s ‘Strictly’ exit in 2012, Johnny was paired with Iveta Lukosiute, and eventually became the first couple to bow out of the series.
Speaking on ‘GMB’, Johnny remarked: “I got a new pro dancer who… we went out [of the competition], and her contract finished two days later.”
As Ben Shephard piped up that Johnny had brought a “conspiracy” to the studio, he joked: “I wouldn’t say that.”
A flustered Susanna then reminded viewers she didn’t have “any statements from anybody confirming or denying anything”, to which Johnny joked: “50 years in television this year… and I think it ends now.”
HuffPost UK has reached out to representatives for both Aliona and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ for clarification.
A year after leaving due to her broken leg, Aliona was initially absent from the 2013 professional line-up, but was ultimately brought in as a last minute replacement for Natalie Lowe, when she was unable to compete due to a foot injury.
She eventually became the second professional dancer to ever win the show twice in 2015, after being partnered with The Wanted singer Jay McGuiness, after which she bowed out of ‘Strictly’ to start a family with husband Vincent Kavanagh.